Oxford Grand Assisted Living and Memory Care is battling one of the biggest coronavirus outbreaks at an assisted living facility in Texas. Now all residents and staff there will be tested for COVID-19.
Oxford Grand Assisted Living and Memory Care in McKinney is battling one of the biggest coronavirus outbreaks at an assisted living facility in Texas.
Eleven of the 14 residents who've tested positive have died.
The outbreak had been confined to the memory care unit where people with Alzheimer’s and dementia live.
But that changed over the weekend when 87-year-old Betty Sullivan got sick. Sullivan’s son, Kerry, said he received a call from a nurse who said his mother had a fever of 100.8.
“I think there's probably real panic there right now realizing now that it is out,” Kerry Sullivan said.
Betty Sullivan, a great grandmother, doesn't live in the memory care unit. She lives in the assisted living part of the facility indicating the virus continues to spread.
Kerry Sullivan said his family took his mother to a hospital Saturday.
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“Soon after that, I got a call from my mother who said she had tested positive for COVID, and immediately everything changes,” he said.
All along, the facility said it’s been instructed to only test residents that are symptomatic or those who are moving out.
In an email to residents and their families Sunday, the center said it's asked: "to utilize the governor's newly formed Rapid Response COVID task force to request testing for all residents and all staff... regardless of whether they are showing any signs of the virus."
“My question is why, when you have half the deaths in Collin County are at that facility, why haven't you tested everybody already?” Sullivan said.
A representative said Oxford Grand has requested more testing for weeks.
The McKinney Fire Department said it’s helped the facility get additional PPE from the state and Monday, helped prioritize the request for testing through the task force.
“I just want to protect my mom and hopefully this will do something for somebody else that’s there,” Sullivan said.
He said his mother remains hospitalized but has mild symptoms. He said he isn't sure about her plans for the future but worries about the dozens of seniors left behind.
“You have to protect your seniors. You have to, and a lot of them don't have any other choice. Where are they going to go?” he said.
Late Monday, NBC 5 learned Oxford Grand's request for more testing has been approved.
Tuesday, the fire department says an emergency response team will perform COVID-19 tests on all residents and staff members.
